Peters



J. B. GATHRIGHT 8L S. LnDRABELLE. Mail-Bag.

No. 214,771. 1 Pate nted April 29,1879.

Inventors 7 4774b 1 1 i I Orflfi Witnesses UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSIAH B. GATHRIGHT AND SAMUEIi L. DRABELLE, OF LOUISVILLE, KY.

IMPROVEMENTLIN MAIL-BAGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 214,771, dated April29, 1879; application filed November 20, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOSIAH B. GATHRIGHT and SAMUEL L. DRABELLE, of thecity of Louisville, county of Jefferson, State of Ken- 1 of an ordinarylockbag, constructed with the.

gussets Gr Graccording to our invention. Fig. 2 shows the back of thebag and the main flap to it at the point shown, a1so strap KK, all tooperate as hereinafter described. Fig.3 shows the front side of the bagwith the adjunct flap B, the bag being open. Fig. 4 shows an edge viewof the bag, and Fig. 5 shows front view of the bag closed.

It will be seen from Figs. 2 and 3 that the two side pieces, 0, Fig. 2,and D, Fig. 3, of the bag are cut with thin edges, beveled in on bothsides at the top, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, thus reducing the size ofthe mouth abo ut one-half; but instead of riveting these sides to eachother, as is done below at M W, Fig. 4, a gusset, G, is inserted on eachside from W upward, and the beveled edges are riveted to these, as shownby lines of rivets a and b, Fig. 4. The gussets are large enough torestore the mouth of the bagto its full size when it is open, but whenclosed the gussets are folded inwardly, which reduces the mouth to thesize of the beveled side pieces. The gussets Grand G are cut so theywill extend above the sides of the bag when open, as seen in Fig. 4, andthis upper part is preferably so shaped that when the bag is closed theupper edges of the gussets will be on a line with the mouth of the bag.The lines of rivets a and b stiffen the bag at these points, and, therebeing no lines of rivets up the middle of the gussets, it is onlynecessary to fold and crease the gussets along their centers beforeattaching them to the bag, and when made up they will readily break onthese lines and fold inwardly when the bag is being closed. The folds ofthe gussets serve to obstruct to some extent the mouth of the bag, andalso to stiffen it. p

The gussets are provided with slots for the end staples c and e to passthrough, and are in this way securely fastened. To cover and fasten thisreduced mouth requires flaps only about one-half the usual width, andonly half the number of staples heretofore used.

We also construct and arrange the flaps and lfastening's so that thereis no need of turning the bag over or around in fastening or unfasteningit, as all can be done on one side. For

this purpose we rivet the main flap A to the hack of the bag at a pointabout two inches (more or less) below the slots N J P, (see-Fig.

2,) as indicated by the line of rivets V. A, which has the staples 0,cl, and 6 attached About the same distance below the line of fasteningV' we rivet to this flap the staples o d e, and provide the end of flapwith corresponding slots fg h. The adjunct flap B is riveted to theother front side of the bag, as seen in Fig.3, and is provided with theslots R T S.

The effect of this construction and arrangement is now apparent. Whenthe flap A'is turned over the top of the bag the staples c d 6 passthrough the top of the bag by the slots N J P,and project on the otherfront side; The slots f, g, and h in the end of flap A are next put overthe staples, and then flap Bis turned up to lap over on A, and the slotsR T S also slipped over the staples. The ends of strap K Kare nowbrought around, one passed through staple c, and one through c, and bothlapped upon staple d, which is attached horizontally for this purpose.The ends of the straps are, of course, provided with metallic eyelets.The fastening is now complete and ready for the look, as seen in Fig. 4.

It will be seen that, owing to the widening of the strap K K along itsmiddle portion, the sides of the bag next to the month are completelycapped.

We have made the straps continuous to strengthen and stiffen the flapbut, of course, the two ends may be separate or attached, as desired.

To prevent the possibility of water being admitted to the mouth of thebag by the gusset when folded, the inverted lip X, Fig. 1, is

riveted on across the gusset, the same being made, if desired, to lineor double the holes for the staples through the gussets. The upper edgeof this lip is concave and the lower (EOHX'GX. It is riveted to thegusset along the upper edge, the lower edge projecting downward at anangle to the gusset, formin g a barrier against water passing indirection of the mouth of the bag. To cause this lower edge of the lipto turn up well, the upper edges are forced inwardly toward each otherto some extent while riveting them on. This strip thus riveted folds andunfolds with the gusset; but the lower edge always stands out from thegusset, and conducts out any water that may get into the gusset. It alsoserves to stiffen the gussets, and thus cause the bags to stand open forputting in mail.

Label-holders may be applied to this bag in any known or desired way. Itis well adapted to be used with the combined lock and labelholderinvented and patented by one of the undersigned, and described inLetters Patent N 0. 187,372.

Instead of flap B lapping upon flap A, as shown in Fig. 4., it may beriveted to the bag nearer the mouth, and cut larger to lap over andaround the mouth of the bag before the flap A is brought over, thusdoubly capping the mouth of the bag.

Of course, there are other methods of riveting a bag so that its edgewill break and fold inwardly as the gusset-s do; but we prefer the planherein described, because it gives us a line of rivets along eachexposed edge to protect from wear the folded edges, and affords rigidityto the edges and flexibility at the folding center, which contribute toits automatic action.

Instead of cutting away the corners of the side pieces to form thereduced month, we may rivet the gussets along the beveled lines andleave the uncut corners of the side pieces, 0

and D, projecting as flaps over the gussets.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. A mail-bag provided with gussets G G, said gussets adapted to foldinwardly when the bag is closed, and penetrated and secured by thefastening of the central portion, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

2. In a mail-bag provided with gussets G G, the lips XX, substantiallyas and for the purpose herein shown and described.

3. A mail-bag provided with double straps K K, widened to cap the sideedges more perfectly, as shown and described.

4. In a mail-bag, the combination of the infolding gussets G G, the flapA, with its slots f g h and staples c d e, and straps K K, allconstructed and arranged to operate as herein stated.

JOSIAH B. GATHRIGHT. SAMUEL L. DRABELLE. Witnesses:

JOHN J. HARRISON, Gun. 0. MoGRATH.

